Cadets get public praise for incredible act of kindness

19 February 2018

A report in the Liverpool Echo (6 February) praised two Aigburth cadets for their incredible act of kindness towards an elderly man who fell and banged his head in the city centre.

Dee Stafford, from Toxteth, was out shopping on Saturday when she saw an 87-year-old man fall close to Queen Square bus station in an incident which she said “made her stomach turn”. Dee ran over with her daughter Evie (8) to help alongside two boys in ACF uniform.

The two cadets, Lewis Lavelle and Duane Xavier, stayed with them for more than an hour as they waited for an ambulance, taking off their jackets to cover the injured man and standing in the rain with no coats on to keep him warm.

Miss Stafford shared their good deed on social media, and said: “They were simply amazing. Their kindness, their attitude, everything.”

"I felt it was my civic duty to help the man ... cadets has changed my character for the best" (Cadet Lavelle)

Cadet Lavelle said: “I felt it was my civic duty to help the man, I don't believe that if I wasn't in the cadets I would have helped, I probably would have walked past him, cadets has changed my character for the best.”

Cadet Xavier added: “I just saw the man fall over and wanted to help him!”

Cadet Lavelle (left) and Cadet Xavier from Merseyside ACF

Both cadets helped guide the ambulance to where the gentleman was - no easy feat as it was right in the middle of the city centre bus station.

Cadet Lavelle went to another shop first to ask for a defibrillator and if they had a trained operative, and finally found one from Marks and Spencer.

Commenting on the cadets’ actions Dee Stafford said: “Watching them stand in the rain in just their t-shirts, because they put their coats over the man, broke and melted my heart at the same time.

“They deserve to be recognised for all they did. I was on the phone to the ambulance service the whole time and they helped with everything.

“They were also fantastic with my daughter too, putting up with her endless questions and were so kind to her - they certainly had an effect on her as she has now decided she wants to join the cadets when she is 12.”